Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / Oct. 11, 1990, edition 1 / Page 7
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j\G£ A7 c ( Winston-Salem Chrqhtcle OCTOBER 11, 1990 I business Briefs ^NESS PROFILE Reliability, quality of service heips Timmons clean up 3ATRICIASMITH-DEERING Mde Staff Writer 1965. '*Aftcr 28 years in the business of cleaning up other ftesscs, James D. T immons is at a point where he literally and figuratively be .said to be cleaning up. ■ 55-year old owner of Timmons Janitorial Service s when asked if he would consider himself success- /‘1am, I sure am.” ' And Timmons is indeed successful because of a lie philosophy that he employs in doing business. He j “The first thing is to do a good job. In business a ck person has got to do twice as much as the white iple do to be successful,” and he stressed his belief hat with an emphatic, “Not maybe.” One of the other qualities that is important to him PJtuality. “If I’m supposed to be here at 1 o’clock, 1 don’t want to see me here at 1:15, do you?...And t’s jhe way 1 want it, and I want my people to be Jiipt all the time,” he said. “You’ve got to be better n the white man,” ho said, adding somewhat apolo- ically, “I’m sorry, but that’s the way it is.” Timmons learned his business and developed his hniques when he was 18 and just out of high school. • native of Wadesboro in Alamance County went to rk for S. C. Johnson and Sons in High Point. “They ght me how to strip floors and other things,” he said, cause the companies that were buying the Johnson iducts did not have their own janitors or janitorial ms, Timmons was frequently called upon for his jertise. “1 had to show people how to put the wax on ; floor and other things,” he said. 'What happened as a result was a surprise to Tim ms. “1 was in business, but I didn’t know it,” he said th what must have been the same look of revelation 1 community mainstay for 40 years that came to him at the lime. Each time that a company needed his help, he would go after hours at his job at Johnson’s and provide the needed assistance. It earned him time off during the day from his regular job and paid off 2-1/2 years later when he was laid off in 1955 and came to Winston-Salem. He look a job with McLean Trucking Company as a switcher where he worked for 30 years fulltime. But, family medical expenses caused him to go back into his old line of work on a parltime basis in ‘I said that I needed to start a janitorial service...! bought a ‘53 panel truck, a mop, and two buckeLs and two wringers, and that’s how I started,” he recalled, Slating his business start as though it was no major undertaking. In do.scribing how he has generally gone about capitalizing his firm, he said, “1 started to get what 1 could do for myself. 1 didn’t beg anybody for anything. 1 did what 1 could do right then. When 1 need ed something else, 1 got it. I didn’t borrow any money.” Timmons has one basic tenet about borrowing from financial institutions in light of the problems that so many African-Americans have when trying to start or expand their businesses. “1 think if you pay you bills on time, ...you’ll have no problems,” he said quickly admitting that his credit record could be described as “squeaky clean.” He recalled the time he borrowed $8,000. “I filled out the application that morning and that next day, 1 had the money,...and that’s been almost 20 years ago,” he said still proud of his record. Since the Child Guidance Clinic (“when they were on Reynolda Road,” he said), gave him his first clean ing and maintenance contract, Timmons’ firm has grown to include six buildings for the Sara Lee Corpo ration, Container Corporation, the Digital Building across from Container Corporation, the First Union National Bank building, and Johnson Control off Linville Road. He started his business as a one-person operation, but as it expanded, he added parttime help. “Right now, I have about eight fulltime people, and 1 have about 60 partiime people,” he said. He has between 15-20 clients. Timmons, who is the oldest of 15 sisters and broth ers, grew up wanting to be a doctor, but his family could not afford to send him to school. Altliough he did not attain a college education, he is a firm believer in it. “I think everybexly needs to go to college to gel some thing,” he said. His son, David graduated from A&T State University. His daughter, Diane is a graduate of Winston-Salem Slate University and is a registered nurse. When his son, Jimmy, a.sked him whether or not he had to go to college, Timmons had a practical, no- nonsen.se respon.se. “I said, ‘Not really, but when you get out of school, you’re going to have to get you a job and go to work...I’m not going to support you.’” Ho believes, “You owe the world something. The world doe.sn’t owe you anything...Everybexly owes the world something.” Perhaps the way ho obtained his own expertise before going into busine.ss for himself explains what he tells anyone wanting to become an entrepreneur. “I think what they need to do is learn everything with someone who knows what to do. Learn it from them,” he advised. He added that developing the ability to make decisions is also important. “1 had to make my own decisions. That’s for everybody. They got to make a decision, whether it’s right or wrong,” he explained. He added that in business, having that ability as an owner is part of accepting responsibility. “They (clients) are not going to blame the employee. They’re Photo by L.B. Speas Jr. James Timmons credits his success to a belief in doing the best job possible. going to blame the man that signed the contract,” he said. Timmons is proud of the reputation that his indus trial cleaning service has earned over the years because of his dedication to providing quality service that is performed by “a carefully trained staff of concerned personnel,” as his public relations statement describes his operation. Although he has had opportunities to expand into firms outside of Winston-Salem, he. feels that he has enough to manage right here in the city. But, he figures that there is probably more to come. “I. think when you do everything that God wants you to do on this earth, it’s time for you to leave, “ he said, indicat ing that he must not have done everything he’s sup posed to do because, “I’m still here!" WAAA marks four decades as African-American voice PATRICIA SMITH-DEERING ronicle Staff Writer „“Daddy-0’s Patio,” Fred iteady Eddie” Allen, and Larry 'JI/0IS are just some of the voices imflhe decades that will be nenibercd when Radio 980 on the A dial, WAAA, celebrates its for th year since it first aired on Oct. , 1950. Oldest black-formatted station in North Carolina and third oldest in the country, the station that has been a focal point of communi cation in the African-American community will step back for a time at the end of October to rcllecl on the many changes that have occurred to its listening audience and to the station itself in those four decades of providing entertainment, information, and service. File Photo lAA owner Miitter Evans has big plans for station's upcoming It anniversary. Originally started by Roger Page, still active in the community, he had the foresight to do what very few people would do in his day, according to Mutter Evans, the youngest African-American owner of a radio station. “You had block programming so you may have at night or weekends six or eight hours of black music but not on a day-in and day-out basis,” she recalled. When it began and until two years ago. Triple A was a daytime station from sunrise to sunset. Forty years ago, “there were few stations...that were 24 hours,” Evans said, adding, “FM was unheard of. It wasn’t even on the market...It is a thing whoso time has come within the last 15 years.” For a time during the ‘60s, the station added FM, 107.5 on the dial, she said. But, the tryout was unsuccess ful, and, by the time that Evans joined the station while still a stu dent at Wake Forest University in 1974, the FM frequency had been relinquished. Playing until midnight is some thing that Evans is extremely proud of, “That’s something that’s only been done (recently), something 1 worked to have happen two years ago,” she said. That privilege, granted by the Federal Communica tions Commission which governs the broadcast media, is one that was hard fought. “What I’m operating now is called ‘post-sunset authori Ma SAVINGS HOME RENOVATIONS >EE HOME INSPECTIONS! FREE HOME INSPECTIONS! FREE HOME INSPECTIONS! NO lONEY DOWN FREE ESTIMATES ■ NO MONEY DOWN •100% FINANCING • YEARS TO PAY •BAD CREDIT, NO PROBLEM • LOAN CONSOLIDATION WITH HOME IMPROVEMENT JOBS • PROFESSIONAL INSTALLATION • OVER 20 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE • LOCALLY OWNED AND OPERATED ^"EE ESTIMATES 7,61-8886 110 Westdale Avenue ty,”’ she explained. “Not all stations got that; not all stations who could have gotten it applied to get it. But, that, too, is something that took some time and some work over the years to push that policy through so that it could get approved here in the United States,” she added. But, Evans would still like to see the station move to 24-hour operation and an upgrade in its 1,000 watt operation, she said, “because the dial places were not all full back then so there was room in between (frequencies) where you could have upgraded without caus ing interference with another exist ing station.” She added, “1 hope it won’t be too long before we com plete that other six hours, hopefully as we celebrate the 40th anniversmy or before celebrating our 41st.” She feels that operating around the clock is .something that “those loyal fans of Triple A over the years will want to see.” But, being at the 980 I'rcquen- cy is excellent positioning for the station. “We’re midway on the dial, and I’m very proud of that (which) is another indication of how long we’ve been on the air,” Evans said, recalling that over the years the African-American stations that have existed have been in the 1300-1500 frequency range. “That’s at the end of the band, and those frequencies really break up more...I’m at 980 with 1,000 walls and there’s a world of difference in what the sound and the quality of the sound is if every thing else is working as it ought to,” she explained. In describing the events that will highlight the anniversary cele bration, Evans said, “We’re plan ning at this point to kick that week end off with a gospel show on Fri day, Oct. 26, at Reynolds Auditori um...featuring Luther Barnes and the Red Budd Gospel Choir, as well as the .Sunset Jubilaires, the Tru- thettes, the Love Community, WCTS, and the Angelic Gospel Singers.” She points out that the Angelic Gospel Singers, founded by Mrs. Margaret Allison in Philadel phia, predate the beginning of the station having begun singing in 1944. Tha featured event for Saturday will be a dinner at the M. C. Benton Convention Center. Evans said, “Percy E. Sutton, chairman of Inner City Broadcasting, owner of (New York’s) WBLS, responsible for the refounding of the Apollo Theater,,. and one time a (New York) borough president, has consented to be keynote speaker.” I During the festivities, special tribute will be paid to some of the people who have been with Triple A from its inception and who, as Evans described their contributions, “have helped to keep Triple-A alive.” Folks like Larry Williams, former program director and popu lar on-air personality will return. There will be a tribute to Daddy-O. Please see page A8' \)C&steNoL \K^tNot. Iitsi a Iriondly icniiixlcr IVoiii the Hncrgy l)i\i,sion. Ifwe (.'(iitsorM’ it K xlay. \\i' won’t nii.ss it loiiiorrow. I'or itletts on eticrgy coti.scivation, or a.ssi.sttince in iiiakitig \()tir home more eiierg\' eflieient, write or call the Fnergx' Division, 1,30 Nortli .Sairshiiry .Strexa. kalei.gh, NC 2”611,919 ^.3.3-2230.
Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
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Oct. 11, 1990, edition 1
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